Chapter 3

She gulped, her legs wobbling, "I'm so sorry, Bruce; I had no choice." She said, tears in her eyes. 

His eyes were already red with fury, "Where is Elisabeth?" He grabbed her arm. She gulped, "She... She ran away." A tear slid down her cheek. He looked dazed, blinking in confusion, "Ran away?" "Yes, she ran away and asked me to take her place." She broke down in tears.

He was surprised, "Why did she run away?" He asked himself. "I don't know." The tears she had been trying to hold back began to pour in torrents; she didn't bother about her makeup. 

The door flung open, and Mr. Anderson entered the room, full of rage. "Marian, how dare you?!" He yelled. She shrank in fear, avoiding his furious eyes, trembling from head to toe. "I had no choice, Mr. Anderson; I was forced to." She palmed her face, sobbing.

"How could you do this, Marian? Is this what we taught you?" Her mother asked, hurt. She continued sobbing quietly. "Now you're the daughter-in-law instead of Elisabeth; what have you done, and where is Elisabeth?" He yelled again. Her legs wobbled, her teeth shaking terribly, "She... ran away." She said quietly. "Ran away?" Her father chimed in, "Where did she run to?" She didn't answer, just sobbed. "Answer me!" Her father raised his voice. Marian jerked, startled; her father had never been this angry.

"She ran away with her lover; she said she didn't want him to die because he was threatening to kill himself." She answered. Her mother covered her mouth in shock; her father was too weak to respond. He closed his eyes and held his head. 

Mr. Anderson was very weak at that moment, unable to say or do anything. He bit his lips and exhaled deeply.

 "So Elisabeth just ran away, and you did nothing to stop her?" Mrs. Anderson chimed in. "I tried; I just couldn't." Her voice broke.

 "You should have done something! At least, you should have stopped her somehow! What are we going to tell our relatives and friends? We were only lucky that the general public didn't know who the bride was originally, or it would have been something else." Mr. Anderson couldn't help but rant on and on.

Marian palmed her face and sobbed all the more. Bruce walked to a chair and sat down, too weak to say anything. He held his head in confusion, wondering why this was happening.

 "Marian, you should have told me; why didn't you tell me? You should have stopped her!" Her mother fired at her. Her legs finally gave way, and she collapsed on the ground, sobbing. 

Now everyone was mad at her; where was her fault in all this? Why didn't they seem to see that her sister was the one who ran away? There was silence for a while; Mr. Anderson glared at her one last time and walked out of the room. His wife followed, then her mother and father.

She was left alone with Bruce, who didn't say anything. She wiped her eyes and looked at him. He was staring into space; she didn't dare say anything to him, or that would mean trouble. 

After a while, he stood up, leaving her there. She was confused; where were they all going? Were they leaving her here? She looked around; she didn't even know where she would go from here. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally realised they had left her there.

 She was heartbroken; didn't any of them see she was in a dilemma? She slowly stood up and went outside the room. She looked around and found no one around; the area was completely empty. 

She raised her gown to enable her to walk properly. She walked towards the entrance of the building; the area was completely empty, not a soul was around. She bit her lips; she neither had money nor any means of getting home. 

She didn't even know if she should go to her parents' or her in-laws' house. She stood at the entrance, just staring at the empty space. She rested against the wall, weak. She was already tired of crying; she exhaled deeply and sat down, hoping someone would come to her aid.

<Five hours later>

A car drove into the compound; she was resting her head against the wall, completely drained of strength. She sighted the car and felt hopeful again, so she tried her best and managed to get up.

 A man came out of the car and went to meet her. "Ma'am, sir asked you to come with me." He said. She nodded and followed him to the car, entering it. He drove out of the compound and to Bruce' house.

...

They arrived at the mansion. The driver parked. Marian was too weak to get out, so the driver noticed this and came to help her. He helped her walk to the entrance of the house. Since he wasn't permitted to enter the house, he left her there. 

She stood there for a while, surveying the surroundings. She slowly walked into the house, still hesitant and afraid. She found no one in the living room; a few minutes later, a maid came to meet her.

 "Welcome, ma'am; let me take you to your room." She led her to her room. It was nearly empty; there wasn't much stuff in the room. It was evident Bruce didn't like her that much. 

She thanked the maid. The maid closed the door behind her. She headed to the bathroom, did her thing, and changed into a lighter dress. Some minutes later, the same maid came back to the room, holding a tray with food on it. 

"Sir has given orders that you should not be allowed to eat in the dining room; he told me to bring your meal here." Marian nodded and took it from her, thanking her again before she left. Now she was being treated like some kind of bad person. She had stepped into acage, which she was sure she'd never escape from.